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Kalle Rovanperä

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 81.178.125.76 (talk) at 15:05, 14 November 2022 (Updated WRC stats (As of 2022 Rally Japan.) - Editing user: KrypticRule.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Kalle Rovanperä
Rovanperä in 2021
NationalityFinland Finnish
Born (2000-10-01) 1 October 2000 (age 24)
Jyväskylä, Finland
Related toHarri Rovanperä (father)
World Rally Championship record
Active years2017–present
Co-driverJonne Halttunen
TeamsŠkoda, Toyota
Rallies52
Championships1 (2022)
Rally wins8
Podiums13
Stage wins99
Total points499
First rally2017 Wales Rally GB
First win2021 Rally Estonia
Last win2022 Rally New Zealand
Last rally2022 Rally Japan

Kalle Rovanperä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑlːe ˈroʋɑnˌperæ]; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. As the son of former WRC driver Harri Rovanperä, he garnered international attention by starting rallying at an exceptionally young age.

Rovanperä won a couple of titles in Latvia, before made his WRC debut in 2017. He won the World Rally Championship-2 Pro in 2019, and was promoted to the top tier by Toyota as their works driver in 2020. In 2021, Rovanperä became the youngest driver to win a World Rally Championship event by winning the 2021 Rally Estonia. In 2022, he broke the late Colin McRae's record of becoming the youngest ever World Champion after winning the 2022 Rally New Zealand a day after his 22nd birthday.

Early life and background

Rovanperä was born in Jyväskylä in Central Finland.[1] He is the son of former WRC driver Harri Rovanperä, who was a factory driver for several teams and won a WRC round in Sweden in 2001.[2] He started rallying at an exceptionally young age, and garnered international attention.[3][4] Prior to his participation into the professional championships, he was coached by many compatriots, including Esapekka Lappi, who commented on the young Rovanperä already knew as much as him.[5]

Career

2015–2017: Success in Latvia, two other national series, ERC and WRC debut

In 2015, at the age of 14, Rovanperä competed in Latvia, where a driver's license is not a requirement to take part in rallying.[6] He won the Latvian rally championship with his Citroen C2 R2 Max car in the R2 class.[7]

For the first three rallies of the 2016 Latvian rally series, Rovanperä drove a 300-horsepower four-wheel-drive Škoda Fabia S2000, which was a completely new WRC-2 class rally car with a two-liter naturally aspirated engine.[8] He won the first rally, with fastest at every stage.[9] He finished as the runner-up the second rally despite of power steering issue.[10] Rovanperä switched to a new Škoda Fabia R5 following another second-place finish in the Kurzeme rally.[11] He scored four more podiums, including two victories for the rest of the season.[12] The performance helped Rovanperä to clinch the championship and became the youngest driver ever to win a national open class rally championship in any country at the age of 16.[13]

In January 2017, the Finnish motorsport association AKK-Motorsport granted 16-year-old Rovanperä a special permission to take part in Finnish rally races and the Ralli SM national championship series.[14] In additional to enter the rallies in Finland, he also participated in two other national championships: Latvia, Italy.[15] Rovanperä also made his European Rally Championship debut in 2017 by entering the Rally Liepāja, where he finished second overall.[16] He also successfully defended his title in Latvia by finishing every rally on podium.[17]

Having acquired his driving licence, Rovanperä made WRC debut at the 2017 Wales Rally GB, driving an M-Sport-entered Ford Fiesta R5,[18] as well as competing at the 2018 Rally Australia.[19] He won the event in the WRC-2 category, becoming the youngest winner of a WRC-2 round, though he was the only contestant in the class.[20]

2018–2019: Steady improvement and WRC-2 Pro crown

Rovanperä at the 2018 Rally Finland.

Rovanperä joined the Škoda Motorsport for the 2018 season.[21] He recorded two victories in Wales and Catalunya,[22][23] completing the championship third.[24] Rovanperä also contested some events in the Asia Pacific Championship series.[25]

Rovanperä retained with the team for the 2019 season.[26] He took his first victory of the season at the 2019 Rally Chile,[27] and took over the championship a round later at the 2019 Rally de Portugal.[28] He would go on to win three more rallies for the rest of the season and eventually sealed the title at the 2019 Wales Rally GB.[29] His only retirement of the season was at the 2019 Tour de Corse, where he crashed out during SS9.[30]

In November 2019, Toyota announced that Rovanperä would drive for the Japanese manufacturer in 2020, alongside world champion Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans.[31]

2020–2021: Top tier debut and youngest WRC event winner

Rovanperä at the 2020 Rally Sweden.

Rovanperä chose 69 as his car number.[32] He scored his first podium at his second outing in the top class at the 2020 Rally Sweden by finishing third.[33] At 19 years, 4 months and 16 days, Rovanperä became the youngest WRC podium finisher.[34] Rovanperä eventually finished fifth at the end of season.[35]

Rovanperä's 2021 campaign with a fourth at the 2021 Monte Carlo Rally and a second at the 2021 Arctic Rally Finland, which was enough to lead the WRC championship for the first time in his career.[36] Following a couple of lacklustre events, Rovanperä took his first WRC career victory at the 2021 Rally Estonia.[37] The victory saw him become the youngest driver to win a World Rally Championship event at 21 years and 289 days, breaking the previous record of 22 years and 313 days held by his team boss Jari-Matti Latvala.[38] Later in 2021, he also won the 2021 Acropolis Rally.[39] Rovanperä eventually finished fourth at the conclusion of the championship.[40]

2022: Youngest World Rally Champion

Rovanperä started 2022 with a fourth place at the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally, before went on to win a hat-trick events.[41] Following a fifth place at the 2022 Rally Italia Sardegna, he further won back-to-back victories to build a commanding lead in the championship.[42][43] Despite of a number of eventful rallies, he returned form to claim his sixth rally of the season at the 2022 Rally New Zealand.[44] The performance was enough to secure the first world title in his career.[45] At the age of 22 years and 1 day, Rovanperä became the youngest World Rally Champion, breaking the previous record set by late Colin McRae at the age of 27 years and 89 days in 1995.[46] He also became the first Finnish World Rally Champion since Marcus Grönholm in 2002.[47]

Personal life

In June 2017, the Finnish transport safety agency Trafi granted Rovanperä a special permission to apply for a driver's license when he turns 17.[48] On 2 October 2017, a day after his 17th birthday, Rovanperä successfully completed the mandatory driving test after having completed the theory part beforehand.[49]

Rally victories

WRC victories

# Event Season Co-driver Car Ref.
1 Estonia 2021 Rally Estonia 2021 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota Yaris WRC [50]
2 Greece 2021 Acropolis Rally 2021 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota Yaris WRC [51]
3 Sweden 2022 Rally Sweden 2022 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 [52]
4 Croatia 2022 Croatia Rally 2022 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 [53]
5 Portugal 2022 Rally de Portugal 2022 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 [54]
6 Kenya 2022 Safari Rally 2022 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 [55]
7 Estonia 2022 Rally Estonia 2022 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 [56]
8 New Zealand 2022 Rally New Zealand 2022 Finland Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 [57]

WRC-2 victories

# Event Season Co-driver Car Ref.
1 Australia 2017 Rally Australia 2017 Finland Jonne Halttunen Ford Fiesta R5 [58]
2 United Kingdom 2018 Wales Rally GB 2018 Finland Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 [59]
3 Spain 2018 Rally Catalunya 2018 Finland Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 [60]

WRC-2 Pro victories

# Event Season Co-driver Car Ref.
1 Chile 2019 Rally Chile 2019 Finland Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 [61]
2 Portugal 2019 Rally de Portugal 2019 Finland Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 evo [62]
3 Italy 2019 Rally Italia Sardegna 2019 Finland Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 evo [63]
4 Finland 2019 Rally Finland 2019 Finland Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 evo [64]
5 United Kingdom 2019 Wales Rally GB 2019 Finland Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 evo [65]

Career results

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Points
2017 Kalle Rovanperä Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR
35 		AUS
10 		25th 1
2018 Kalle Rovanperä Škoda Fabia R5 MON
11 		SWE 22nd 3
Škoda Motorsport MEX
35 		FRA ARG
Ret 		POR ITA FIN
14
Škoda Motorsport II GER
10 		TUR GBR
9 		ESP
12 		AUS
2019 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 MON
18 		SWE
18 		MEX FRA
Ret 		ARG CHL
8 		12th 18
Skoda Fabia R5 evo POR
6 		ITA
9 		FIN
9 		GER
16 		TUR
18 		GBR
9 		ESP
12 		AUS
C
2020 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC MON
5 		SWE
3 		MEX
5 		EST
5 		TUR
4 		ITA
Ret 		MNZ
5 		5th 80
2021 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC MON
4 		ARC
2 		CRO
Ret 		POR
22 		ITA
25 		KEN
6 		EST
1 		BEL
3 		GRE
1 		FIN
34 		ESP
5 		MNZ
9 		4th 142
2022 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 MON
4 		SWE
1 		CRO
1 		POR
1 		ITA
5 		KEN
1 		EST
1 		FIN
2 		BEL
62 		GRE
15 		NZL
1 		ESP
3 		JPN
12 		1st 255
Source:[66]

* Season still in progress.

WRC-2 results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos. Points
2017 Kalle Rovanperä Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR
15 		AUS
1 		15th 25
2018 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 MON SWE MEX
5 		FRA ARG
Ret 		POR ITA FIN
4 		3rd 90
Škoda Motorsport II GER
2 		TUR GBR
1 		ESP
1 		AUS
Source:[67]

WRC-2 Pro results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Points
2019 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 MON
2 		SWE
2 		MEX FRA
Ret 		ARG CHL
1 		1st 176
Skoda Fabia R5 evo POR
1 		ITA
1 		FIN
1 		GER
3 		TUR
3 		GBR
1 		ESP
3 		AUS
C
Source:[68]

ERC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos. Points
2017 Kalle Rovanperä Ford Fiesta R5 ACO ESP GRC CYP POL CZE ROM LVA
2 		12th 30
Source:[69]

References

  1. ^ "Kalle Rovanperä". Red Bull GmbH. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Rovanpera hits big time in Sweden". BBC. 11 February 2001. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  3. ^ "Watch a 13-year-old rallyist scare someone stupid". Top Gear. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Tässä tulee toisen polven rallivirtuoosi! – katso video" (in Finnish). 17 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  5. ^ Lindsay, Alasdair (6 October 2022). "'We are f***** in the future' – Lappi on a young Rovanperä". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Oliver Solberg: Rally Liepāja almost feels like home rally". autorally.lv. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  7. ^ Räty, Mika (18 October 2015). "Suomalainen Kalle, 15, näytti kokeneille kuskeille mallia – voitti rallimestaruuden ja ällistytti legendaarisen isänsä". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  8. ^ Räty, Mika (14 December 2015). "15-vuotiaan suomalaisen rallisensaation jatko selvillä: "keskoskaappi" vaihtuu uuteen 300-hevosvoimaiseen tykkiin". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. ^ Partanen, Joonas (17 January 2017). "Kalle Rovanperä, 15, ylivoimaiseen rallivoittoon – tyrmäsi muut kuskit!". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  10. ^ Markkanen, Lauri (26 January 2017). "Kalle Rovanperältä, 15, aivan uskomaton nousu! Ajoi taas voittoon". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  11. ^ Hyytiä, Mikko (29 August 2017). "Suomalainen 15-vuotias superlupaus ylivoimaiseen rallivoittoon – "Auto kulki kevyesti"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Kalle Rovanperä Latvia". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  13. ^ Hepojärvi, Harri (23 October 2016). "Kalle Rovanperällä, 16, uskomaton vuosi – kausi päättyi mestaruuteen!". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  14. ^ Savela, Sanna (31 January 2017). "AKK myönsi poikkeusluvan – alaikäinen Kalle Rovanperä saa osallistua Suomen rallikilpailuihin". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  15. ^ Parviainen, Vesa (2 June 2017). "Kalle Rovanperällä, 16, kova haaste – vastustajat eivät tarvitse ollenkaan nuotteja". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Kalle Rovanperä". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  17. ^ Lehtisaari, Matti (8 October 2017). "Rovanperä porhalsi kakkoseksi EM-rallissa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  18. ^ "WRC 2: Rovanperä makes his debut". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  19. ^ Visuri, Roope (7 October 2017). "Kalle Rovanperä hurjassa lyönnissä EM-rallissa! Voittotaistossa tekniikkaongelmista huolimatta". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  20. ^ Quinn, Morrigan (20 October 2022). "Kalle Rovanperä makes history in Australia". clubs1.net. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  21. ^ Evans, David (13 December 2017). "Rovanpera joins Skoda for 2018 WRC2 campaign". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  22. ^ "WRC 2 in Britain: Rovanperä takes comfortablw win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  23. ^ "WRC 2 in Spanin: Rovanperä Nets Masterful win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  24. ^ "WRC-2 Season 2018". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  25. ^ Hotti, Jari (12 December 2017). "Rovanperän kausi käynnistyy Monte Carlosta – Gardemeisterin tallin kalustolla!". urheiluuutiset.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  26. ^ Evans, David (28 November 2018). "Skoda Motorsport scales back for 2019 WRC2 season, Tidemand exits". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  27. ^ "Sunday in Chile: Rovanperä seals Pro win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  28. ^ "Sunday in Portugal: Rovanperä claims Pro lead". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  29. ^ "WRC 2 in Britain: Kalle claims Pro title". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  30. ^ "Saturday in WRC 2: Andolfi leads after carnage in Corsica". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  31. ^ "Toyota reveals 2020 line-up". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  32. ^ "Why WRC 2020 doesn't have a NO.1". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  33. ^ "Evans completes Rally Sweden". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  34. ^ Brunsdon, Stephen (25 September 2021). "The top 10 youngest WRC podium finishers". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  35. ^ "WRC 2020 driver's standings". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  36. ^ "Tänak wins in the Arctic, Rovanperä grabs WRC lead". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  37. ^ "Record-breaking Rovanperä triumphs in Estonia". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  38. ^ Barry, Luke (19 July 2021). "The 10 youngest WRC winners". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  39. ^ "Masterful Rovanperä bags Greece win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  40. ^ "WRC 2021 driver's standings". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  41. ^ "Hat-trick hero Rovanperä supreme in Portugal". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  42. ^ "Rovanperä tightens title hold with skilled Safari win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 26 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  43. ^ "Record-breaking Rovanperä triumphs in Estonia". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  44. ^ "World Rally Championship: 'Superhero' Kalle Rovanpera becomes youngest ever champion". BBC Sport. 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  45. ^ "Breaking: Rovanperä seals WRC crown with historic victory down under". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  46. ^ Barry, Luke (25 September 2021). "The top 10 youngest world champions in WRC history". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  47. ^ "Rovanpera becomes youngest champion with New Zealand victory". Reuters. 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  48. ^ Salminen, Solmu (6 September 2017). "Nyt se on varmaa: Ihmekuski Kalle Rovanperä saa ajokortin alaikäisenä!". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  49. ^ Lund, Sakari (2 October 2017). "17-vuotias ralliteini jännitti inssiajoa – loppukuusta Rovanperä tekee historiaa Walesin MM-rallissa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  50. ^ "Final results Rally Estonia 2021". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  51. ^ "Final results EKO Acropolis Rally of Gods 2021". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  52. ^ "Final results Rally Sweden 2022". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  53. ^ "Final results Rally Croatia 2022". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  54. ^ "Final results Rally de Portugal 2022". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  55. ^ "Final results Safari Rally Kenya 2022". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  56. ^ "Final results Rally Estonia 2022". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  57. ^ "Final results Repco Rally New Zealand 2022". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  58. ^ "Final results Kennards Hire Rally Australia 2017". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  59. ^ "Final results Dayinsure Wales Rally GB 2018". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  60. ^ "Final results RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada 2018". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  61. ^ "Final results Copec Rally Chile 2019". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  62. ^ "Final results Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2019". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  63. ^ "Final results Rally Italia Sardegna 2019". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  64. ^ "Final results Neste Rally Finland 2019". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  65. ^ "Final results Wales Rally GB 2019". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  66. ^ "Kalle Rovanperä (WRC)". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  67. ^ "Kalle Rovanperä (WRC-2)". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  68. ^ "Kalle Rovanperä (WRC-2 Pro)". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  69. ^ "Kalle Rovanperä (ERC)". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kalle Rovanperä.
Sporting positions
Preceded by World Rally Champion
2022 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Records
Preceded by Youngest rally winner
20 years, 289 days
(2021 Rally Estonia) 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Colin McRae
27 years, 109 days
(1995 season)
 Youngest World Rally Champion
22 years, 1 day
(2022 season) 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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